90-minute editing session with a train carriage and a timer, when you want to finish something

1 Before you start

• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
• Expect to want to stop at about the eight-minute mark. That is normal and it passes.
• Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.
• If you are dreading it, make the first action physical: open the file, sharpen the pencil.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.

2 While the timer runs

• When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
• When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
• If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.

3 When it ends

• If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
• Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
• Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.

4What to put on

a train carriage — Rhythmic, low, and slightly rumbly. Many people find the motion-and-noise combination easier to work to than silence.